Sustainable : houses with small footprints / Avi Friedman.

Includes bibliographical references.

Preface -- 1. Vernacular design -- 2. Vernacular materials -- 3. Natural ventilation -- 4. Thermal mass -- 5. Raised dwellings -- 6. Earth structures -- 7. Living walls -- 8. Natural light -- 9. Indoor farming -- 10. Water harvesting and recycling -- 11. Sheltered homes -- 12. Renewable energy -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Project credits -- Photo credits -- Acknowledgements.

"A presentation of contemporary houses that demonstrates how domesticity can be beautiful and still help the planet. Have we passed a tipping point beyond which we can no longer reverse a course of action that was charted several decades ago Sustainable: Houses with Small Footprints argues that we can indeed detach our dwellings from a dependence on many external systems and resources and adopt other building practices. What is known as living off the grid is possible, and Sustainable presents forty-five houses that demonstrate how architects have implemented sustainable design concepts around the world. These projects show us what time-tested vernacular design principles—including local materials, natural ventilation strategies, and earth shelter construction—can teach us, as well as how the latest cutting-edge technologies—such as indoor farming and "living walls" made of plant material—can make truly sustainable design possible. The variety and ingenuity of the projects featured here make Sustainable a uniquely coherent and authoritative volume on sustainable residential design." --Publisher's website.